Combustion device and combustion method

Abstract

To safely and easily burn hydrogen. A combustion device comprises: a hot water generation unit 1 provided with a storage unit 112 for storing water, an arrangement unit 113 for arranging a solid fuel that reacts with the water within the storage unit 112 to discharge hydrogen, and a combustion unit for burning the generated hydrogen; and a control unit for controlling the water temperature of the stored water.

Description

Combustion Device and Combustion Method

[0001] The present invention relates to a combustion device and a combustion method.

[0002] A method for burning hydrogen gas is known. For example, there is a combustion method in which hydrogen gas or a combustion gas mainly composed of hydrogen is passed through water in a bubble state in advance, or brought into contact with the water surface to add 5 to 50% by volume of water vapor, and then this gas is burned.

[0003] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51-130929

[0004] Hydrogen has problems in that it is difficult to handle due to its properties and difficult to burn stably. In one aspect, the present invention aims to burn hydrogen safely and easily.

[0005] To achieve the above object, a disclosed combustion device is provided. This combustion device has a storage part for storing a liquid, a placement part for arranging a fuel that is solid at normal temperature and reacts with the liquid in the storage part to release hydrogen, a combustion part for burning the generated hydrogen, and a temperature control part for controlling the temperature of the liquid.

[0006] In one aspect, hydrogen can be burned safely and easily.

[0007] It is a diagram for explaining the combustion system of the embodiment. It is a perspective view showing the combustion device of the embodiment. It is a perspective side view of the combustion device of the embodiment. It is a cross-sectional view taken along line A - A shown in FIG. 3. It is a diagram showing an example of the input solid fuel.

[0008] Hereinafter, the combustion device of the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0009] The positions, sizes, shapes, and ranges of the components shown in the following drawings may not represent the actual positions, sizes, shapes, and ranges in order to facilitate understanding of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the positions, sizes, shapes, and ranges disclosed in the drawings. Elements expressed in the singular in the embodiments shall include plural forms unless otherwise clearly indicated in the text. <Embodiments> Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a combustion system of an embodiment. The combustion device 100 has a hot water generation unit 1 and a control unit (computer) 2. The hot water generation unit 1 generates hot water by placing a fuel that is solid at room temperature in a liquid and burning the generated hydrogen on the surface of the liquid. The control unit 2 controls the temperature and liquid flow rate so that combustion in the hot water generation unit 1 is carried out safely. Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the hot water generation unit of the embodiment. Figure 3 is a transparent side view of the hot water generation unit of the embodiment. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A shown in Figure 3. The hot water generating unit 1 of this embodiment includes a combustion cylinder 11, a fuel inlet 12, a first water inlet 13, a drain / residue discharge port 14, a second water inlet 15, and a drain port 16.

[0010] The combustion chamber 11 is cylindrical in shape. A lid 111 is positioned at the top of the combustion chamber 11. An opening 111a is formed in the lid 111. A fuel inlet 12 is inserted through the opening 111a.

[0011] The fuel inlet 12 is equipped with an opening 121 through which solid fuel is introduced. In addition to the ability to manually introduce solid fuel, a solid fuel introduction device (not shown) can be installed in the opening 121, allowing control of the amount of solid fuel introduced per unit time according to instructions from the control unit 2. A general quantitative fuel supply device can be used for this solid fuel introduction device. This solid fuel is a fuel that is solid at room temperature and releases hydrogen gas upon reaction with a liquid. Examples of solid fuels include magnesium hydride (MgH). ２ ) and calcium hydride (CaH ２ Examples include:

[0012] As shown in Figure 3, the combustion cylinder 11 is provided with a storage section 112, a fuel trap section 113, a fuel guide 114, an air intake 115, and a heat exchanger 116.

[0013] The storage section 112 stores a liquid (for example, water or an acidic liquid) for reaction and combustion of the solid fuel. In this embodiment, water will be described as being stored. In Figure 4, the stored water is shown by a diagonal line.

[0014] The solid fuel introduced through the opening 121 is placed in the arrangement section 113 located within the storage section. The arrangement section 113 is formed at its ends along the wall surface of the combustion cylinder 11 and forms an annular shape in plan view, surrounding the fuel guide 114. The arrangement section 113 has a fine mesh structure. As the reaction progresses, the solid fuel spills out through the mesh. The fuel guide 114 guides the introduced solid fuel into the arrangement section 113. The air intake 115 allows outside air to be drawn into the combustion cylinder 11.

[0015] Water for reaction and combustion of the solid fuel is injected from the first inlet 13. In the following description, the water injected from the first inlet 13 and stored in the storage section 112 will be referred to as "storage water". The water surface 20 of the storage water inside the combustion cylinder 11 becomes the combustion section for the generated hydrogen gas. In the following description, the water surface 20 will also be referred to as the combustion surface 20.

[0016] The drainage / residue outlet 14 is the outlet for the stored water injected from the first inlet 13 and the solid fuel residue after the reaction. A valve (not shown) is located at the drainage / residue outlet 14. When the valve is closed, a predetermined amount of stored water is stored in the combustion chamber 11.

[0017] Liquid (for example, water) is injected through the second water inlet 15. In this embodiment, it will be described as water being injected. The second water inlet 15 is connected to the heat exchanger 116. The water passing through the heat exchanger 116 is heated by the heat obtained from the combustion of hydrogen gas.

[0018] The drain port 16 is the outlet for heated water (hot water). A valve (not shown) is located at the drain port 16. When the valve is closed, a predetermined amount of water is stored in the heat exchanger 116.

[0019] Incidentally, the combustion chamber 11 is equipped with various sensors to control the temperature of the stored water. Specifically, the combustion chamber 11 has a water temperature sensor 31, a flame temperature sensor 32, and a hydrogen generation amount detection sensor 33. The water temperature sensor 31 is located near the combustion surface 20. The water temperature sensor 31 measures the temperature of the stored water near the combustion surface 20. The flame temperature sensor 32 is located slightly above the combustion surface 20. The flame temperature sensor 32 measures the temperature of the flame generated by combustion.

[0020] The hydrogen generation amount detection sensor 33 is positioned near the combustion surface 20. This hydrogen generation amount detection sensor 33 includes, for example, a Doppler sensor and an acceleration sensor. The hydrogen generation amount detection sensor 33 measures the flow rate of bubbles passing through the stored water near the combustion surface 20. The measurement results from the water temperature sensor 31, the flame temperature sensor 32, and the hydrogen generation amount detection sensor 33 are transmitted to the control unit 2.

[0021] The control unit 2 can control the flow rate of water injected from the first water inlet 13 and the amount of solid fuel injected from the fuel inlet 12 based on the measurement results. Specifically, when the water temperature of the stored water is above a certain temperature, the amount of water injected from the first water inlet 13 can be increased, and the amount of water discharged from the drainage / residue discharge port 14 can be increased. This can lower the water temperature.

[0022] When the flame temperature is high, the amount of water injected from the first water inlet 13 can be increased, or the amount of solid fuel added can be decreased. This can lower the flame temperature. When the amount of hydrogen generated is high, the amount of solid fuel added can be reduced. This can reduce the amount of hydrogen generated.

[0023] Furthermore, the control unit 2 can also control the amount of fuel supplied from the fuel inlet 12, the flow rate of water supplied from the second water inlet 15, and the opening and closing of the valve for the drainage / residue discharge port 14.

[0024] Next, an example of how to use the combustion device 1 will be described. The following process is just one example, and you may change the order of some of the processes or add any processes not listed here.

[0025] The control unit 2 injects water into the combustion cylinder 11 from the first water inlet 13 with the valve of the drain / residue discharge port 14 closed. As a result, a predetermined amount of stored water is stored in the storage section 112. The control unit 2 also injects water into the heat exchanger 116 from the second water inlet 15. Next, the control unit 2 puts solid fuel in from the fuel inlet 12. The put-in solid fuel is guided to the placement section 113 by the fuel guide 114. Figure 5 shows an example of the put-in solid fuel.

[0026] Figure 5 illustrates the solid fuel 50 that has been introduced. The solid fuel 50 reacts with the stored water to release hydrogen. At this time, bringing a flame close to the water surface 20 causes the hydrogen to burn on the water surface 20. The water temperature sensor 31, the flame temperature sensor 32, and the hydrogen generation amount detection sensor 33 transmit the measurement results to the control unit 2. Based on the detection result of the water temperature sensor 31, the control unit 2 controls the water temperature of the stored water to maintain it at, for example, 60 to 70°C. Furthermore, when the temperature of the hot water in the heat exchanger 116 reaches a predetermined temperature, the control unit 2 opens the valve of the drain port 16 and starts releasing the hot water.

[0027] Furthermore, the control unit 2 controls the flow rate of water injected from the first water inlet 13 and the amount of solid fuel injected from the fuel inlet 12 using the aforementioned solid fuel injection device, based on the measurement results of various sensors.

[0028] As described above, the combustion device 100 of this embodiment includes a hot water generation unit 1 comprising a storage unit 112 for storing water, a placement unit 113 for arranging solid fuel that reacts with the water in the storage unit 112 to release hydrogen, and a combustion unit for burning the generated hydrogen, and a control unit 2 for controlling the temperature of the stored water. Therefore, hydrogen can be burned safely and easily.

[0029] In this embodiment, the case of generating hot water by burning hydrogen has been described, but the use of the combustion device is not limited to generating hot water, and combustion may be used for other purposes. Other uses include, for example, food processing equipment.

[0030] Furthermore, although the control unit 2 was described as being integrated with the combustion device 100 in this embodiment, it can be replaced by a part of another device having a CPU or memory unit. For example, the functions of the control unit 2 may be replaced by a desktop PC, tablet, or smartphone. In other words, the processing performed by the combustion device 100 may be distributed and processed by multiple devices.

[0031] Although the combustion apparatus of the present invention has been described above based on the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the configuration of each part can be replaced with any configuration having a similar function. Furthermore, other arbitrary components or processes may be added to the present invention. Moreover, the present invention may be a combination of any two or more configurations (features) from the embodiments described above.

[0032] The above processing functions can be implemented by a computer. In this case, a program describing the processing content of the functions of the control unit 2 is provided. By executing this program on a computer, the above processing functions are implemented on the computer. The program describing the processing content can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic storage devices, optical discs, magneto-optical recording media, and semiconductor memory. Examples of magnetic storage devices include hard disk drives, flexible disks (FDs), and magnetic tapes. Examples of optical discs include DVDs, DVD-RAMs, and CD-ROMs / RWs. Examples of magneto-optical recording media include MOs (Magneto-Optical disks).

[0033] When distributing a program, portable recording media such as DVDs and CD-ROMs containing the program are sold. Alternatively, the program can be stored in the storage device of a server computer and transferred from the server computer to other computers via a network.

[0034] A computer executing a program stores programs, for example, those recorded on a portable storage medium or transferred from a server computer, in its own memory. The computer then reads the program from its memory and executes the processing according to the program. Alternatively, the computer can directly read the program from the portable storage medium and execute the processing according to that program. Furthermore, the computer can sequentially execute the processing according to the programs received from a server computer connected via a network, each time a program is transferred.

[0035] Furthermore, at least some of the above processing functions can be implemented using electronic circuits such as DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), and PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices).

[0036] 1 Hot water generation unit 2 Control unit 11 Combustion cylinder 111 Lid 111a Opening 112 Storage unit 113 Arrangement unit (fuel trap) 114 Fuel guide 115 Air intake 116 Heat exchanger 12 Fuel inlet 121 Opening 13 First water inlet 14 Drain / residue discharge port 15 Second water inlet 16 Drain port 20 Water surface (combustion surface) 31 Water temperature sensor 32 Flame temperature sensor 33 Hydrogen generation amount detection sensor 50 Solid fuel 100 Combustion device

Claims

1. A combustion apparatus comprising: a storage section for storing a liquid; a placement section provided within the storage section for placing a fuel that is solid at room temperature and reacts with the liquid in the storage section to release hydrogen; a combustion section for burning the generated hydrogen on the surface of the liquid in the storage section; and a temperature control section for controlling the temperature of the liquid.

2. The combustion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature control unit adjusts the flow rate of liquid flowing into and out of the storage unit.

3. The combustion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature control unit controls the amount of hydrogen produced by the reaction.

4. A combustion method characterized by placing a solid fuel at room temperature, which reacts with the liquid in the storage section to release hydrogen, in a storage section for storing liquid, burning the generated hydrogen on the surface of the liquid in the storage section, and controlling the temperature of the liquid.

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